| The Original U. of Michigan Model |
The original program was successfully initiated
at the University of Michigan in 1998. Originally, students at
Michigan developed their Key
Partner with the Housing Department and built a sustained
pen pal program with residents living on campus. From there, the
history of
K-grams continued to bloom.
What benefit is there to observing the U-Mich Model?
As we develop our Pilot
Programs into their full potential, we highly encourage those
schools and interested affiliates to see how a fully operational
Chapter works. As a courtesy of the K-grams chapter at Michigan,
they have included examples of their organization with links available
on the right bar.
When can we check out this process?
The completely student-led volunteer board and additional advising
staff from Housing encourage and invite others to come visit or
exchange ideas on Kids Programs. You can be sure to meet up with
their Directors any Tuesday night (during the school year) at
8pm in the Michigan
Union for their weekly meetings. Also, U-Mich also has BookMARK
programs every day of the week, and projects and pen pal letter
deliveries each Friday.
Highlights of their program include the following:
- 50+ member student programming council (including 10-person
Board of Directors)
- Approx. 1,000 annual membership in the pen pal program
- Engaged wih 10 elementary schools and 10 residence halls on
campus
- Annual K-grams Kids-Fair at Crisler Arena
- Over 100 student groups involved in Kids-Fair and other student-initiated
projects
Feel free to visit the Michigan K-grams website for a wealth
of additional information and insight on how their model works:
www.umich.edu/~smile
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